Section archive - Instruction in Teacher Training

A meta-analysis of the relationship between class attendance in college and college grades reveals that attendance has strong relationships with both class grades and GPA. These relationships make class attendance a better predictor of college grades than any other known predictor of academic performance. Implications for theoretical frameworks of student academic performance and educational policy are discussed.

This review evaluates the role of language in explaining the relatively superior performance of Chinese and other East Asian students in cross-national studies of mathematics achievement. The review (a) provides equivocal findings about the extent to which number words in the Chinese language afford benefits for mathematics learning; and (b) indicates that cultural and contextual factors are gaining prominence in accounting for the superior performance of East Asian students in cross-national studies.

The purpose of this study is to analyze discursively how the relationship between educational institutions and workplaces materializes in the position of a vocational teacher. The author focuses particularly on the requirement of vocational teachers to work in close collaboration with industry and workplaces, and to serve economic interests. The pedagogical responsibility for what happens to students at work remains with vocational teachers; however, the success of educational programs depends on the willingness of employees to offer learning opportunities to students, and to guide and evaluate student learning according to the rules set by the educational curricula.

This inquiry examines the collaborative relationship between Mary, a teacher at a junior high, and Stefinee, a teacher educator at a nearby university. The purpose of this inquiry is to explore the experiences the authors have had in their collaboration that have sustained both of the authors in their professional lives. The authors use emblematic narratives to make assertions about their collaboration through the use of the metaphor of an informal roadside fruit stand while contrasting their work with larger collectives of school– university partnerships.